Eli, the ‘Miracle Baby’ born without a nose, has died

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MOBILE, Ala. — The 2-year-old Alabama boy known as the “Miracle Baby” succumbed to his rare condition Saturday night.

Eli Thompson was born in 2015 with congenital Arhinia, an extremely rare condition that leaves babies without nasal structures or passages, AL.com reports. The condition affects just one in 197 million people.

Eli’s father, Jeremy Finch, described his son as “very, very bright and happy, always smiling and giving everybody fist bumps.”

“We lost our little buddy last night. I’ll never be able to make sense of why this happened and this will hurt deeply for a long time but I’m so blessed to have had this beautiful boy in my life,” he said. “He finished his race a lot earlier than we would have liked, but it was God’s time to bring him back home. I’ll forever look forward to seeing him at the gates of Heaven waiting on me to give me another one of his famous fist bumps! I love you little man. Rest in peace with my Father.”

Finch told AL.com his little boy used baby sign language and his favorite sign was ‘cookie.’ Eli was also starting to do speech therapy at home with a speaking valve.